Mikhail Moiseyevich Botvinnik Signed (4 results)

Soft cover. Condition: Very Good. 1st Edition. 271 pages with diagrams. Octavo (8 1/2" x 5 1/2") bound in original publisher's pictorial wrappers. Signed by Mikhail Botvinnik and Jakow Estrin. First edition. a dedication by an unknown scribe and the handwritten signatures of the former world champion Mikhail Botvinnik and the former correspondence chess world champion Jakow Estrin on the title. Mikhail Moiseyevich Botvinnik was a Soviet and Russian chess grandmaster who held five world titles in three different reigns. The sixth World Chess Champion, he also worked as an electrical engineer and computer scientist and was a pioneer in computer chess. On the basis of his strong results during and just after World War II, Botvinnik was one of five players to contest the 1948 World Chess Championship, which was held at The Hague and Moscow. He won the 1948 tournament convincingly with a score of 14/20, three points clear becoming the sixth World Champion. Yakov Borisovich Estrin was a Russian chess player, chess theoretician, writer, and World Correspondence Chess Champion who held the chess titles of International Master and International Correspondence Chess Grandmaster. Condition: Signed on the title page. Pages toned. Wrappers with edge wear and bumped corners with defects on the spine else good to very good. Signed by Author(s).

Soft cover. Condition: Very Good. Dust Jacket Condition: Very Good. 1st Edition. 111 pages with plates, diagrams and tables. Duodecimo (7" x 5") bound in original publisher's pictorial wrappers with original jacket. Signed and dated by Botvinnik on half title. (Bibliotheca Van der Linde-Niemeijeriana: 5097) First edition. In the wake of Mikhail Botvinnik's win of the 1933 USSR Chess Championship in Leningrad, a match was devised by Alexander Ilyin-Zhenevsky and Nikolai Vasilyevich Krylenko to pit the new Soviet champion against Salomon Flohr, at that time one of the people believed to be strong enough to challenge Alexander Alekhine in a world championship title match. Flohr agreed to the match with Botvinnik, the first six games to be played in Moscow and the latter six games to be played in Leningrad. Many figures in Soviet chess circles at the time were skeptical of Botvinnik's chances against the very strong Czechoslavkian master, despite Botvinnik's successes and increasingly systematic methods of preparation. Krylenko insisted, however, claiming that Botvinnik and the new generation by extension had to be "tested." The first half of the match was dismal for both Botvinnik and Krylenko. Flohr got off to a one-game lead in the opening round of the match and had made it plus +2 by the wrap up in Moscow. Botvinnik persevered in Leningrad however, managing to win two games of his own and finally leaving the match score tied at 6 points at the final. Condition: Signed on half title. Edge wear with chips and tears to heal edge. Some internal soiling. Jacket with edge wear, soiled, spine ends chipped else very good in like jacket. Signed by Author(s).

Hardcover. Condition: Very Good. Dust Jacket Condition: Very Good. 1st Edition. 120 pages with diagrams. Royal octavo ( 3/4' x 6 1/4") bound in original publisher's blue cloth with gilt lettering to spine and cover in original pictorial jacket. Signed by the author. (Bibliotheca Van der Linde-Niemeijeriana: 3277) First German edition. Mikhail Moiseyevich Botvinnik was a Soviet and Russian chess grandmaster who held five world titles in three different reigns. The sixth World Chess Champion, he also worked as an electrical engineer and computer scientist and was a pioneer in computer chess. He also had a mathematics degree (honorary). Botvinnik was the first world-class player to develop within the Soviet Union. He also played a major role in the organization of chess, making a significant contribution to the design of the World Chess Championship system after World War II and becoming a leading member of the coaching system that enabled the Soviet Union to dominate top-class chess during that time. His pupils include World Champions Anatoly Karpov, Garry Kasparov and Vladimir Kramnik. He is often described as the patriarch of the Soviet chess school and is revered for his analytical approach to chess. Condition: Signed and dated on title. Previous owners' name to front end paper, corners gently bumped. Jacket with edge wear, tears and chipped, lightly soiled else very good in like jacket. Signed by Author(s).

No Binding. Condition: Very Good. 1st Edition. Black and white press photo (8 1/2" x 10") of Mikhail Botvinnik and Jakov Estrin from the International Book Fair in Moscow. With the handwritten signatures of the former world champion Mikhail Botvinnik, the former correspondence chess world champion Jakow Estrin (1923-1987) and the representative of Bertelsmann International Udo Knispel under the photo. The photo shows Botvinnik and Estrin talking to Knispel at the stand with a book in their hands. Mikhail Moiseyevich Botvinnik was a Soviet and Russian chess grandmaster who held five world titles in three different reigns. The sixth World Chess Champion, he also worked as an electrical engineer and computer scientist and was a pioneer in computer chess. He also had a mathematics degree. Condition: The photo is slightly faded and has signs of wear else very good. Signed by Author(s).